At least 130 flights cancelled as strong winds hit Sydney
At least 130 flights have been cancelled at Sydney Airport due to strong winds hitting the city, as single-runway operations have been enacted.
Sydney Airport’s website currently lists 130 cancelled departure and arrival flights from 6am until 8.25pm, which an airport spokeswoman said was due to strong winds.
“Yesterday evening, Airservices Australia advised airlines of the possibility of single runway operations today due to potential strong winds at the airport,” she said.
“As a result, a number of airlines have decided to consolidate services. Passengers who are travelling today are advised to get in touch with their airline to check the status of their flights.”
Airservices Australia confirmed single runway operations had been enacted and would most likely remain in place throughout the day due to strong westerly crosswinds.
“This decision is purely weather and safety related to safeguard the travelling public,” a spokeswoman said.
Sydney Airport general manager of communications Josh Clements told radio host Ben Fordham on 2GB that the predicted single runway operations meant almost half of flights would not be able to run, which is why flights had been cancelled.
“What the airlines try to do is get ahead of any disruption on the day so that they can get in touch with passengers and send them messages and get them onto different flights the day before,” he said.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a gale force wind warning for the Sydney coast, Hunter coast, Illawarra coast and Batemans coast.
The winds have already caused chaos for Sydneysiders as the NSW State Emergency Service has responded to 421 incidents across the state, including 25 in Sydney since windy and wet weather began last night.
“We suspect the numbers will go up this morning as people go out and about to work,” SES spokesman Andrew Edmunds said.
Sydney is predicted to have north-westerly winds at 25 to 40km/h for the day, tending westerly 30 to 45km/h in the morning.
As of 9.30am, Sydney Airport recorded wind speeds of 35km/h, with gusts reaching 43km/h. North Head recorded winds at 26km/h with gusts reaching 46km/h, while Kurnell hit 35km/h with gusts reaching 48km/h.
Qantas confirmed a number of its services had been delayed and cancelled on Thursday due to the strong winds. Customers will be contacted directly if their flights have been affected and moved onto the next available flight.
Virgin Australia also confirmed it had made cancellations due to high winds.
“We sincerely apologise to our guests for the inconvenience,” a spokesman said.
“Further delays and cancellations may be required throughout the day, so we encourage guests to check the status of their flight prior to travel.”
Essential Energy confirmed powerlines were brought down overnight across regional, rural and remote NSW.
At the height of the outage, 13,300 customers were without power across the Northern Tablelands to the North Coast, Mid North Coast, Central Tablelands and the South Coast. At 9.30am on Thursday, 2500 customers remained without power.
“Crews restored power to more than 7000 customers overnight, with a further 3000 customers having their supply restored this morning as repairs continue,” an Essential Energy spokeswoman said.
“Helicopters are being used to fly the network west of Narrabri including Burren Junction, and extra crews from the North Coast are assisting local teams across the Northern Tablelands.”
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